I must admit that I was thrilled when I found blue cornmeal in my local market recently. All I could think of were the possibilities! I already have an excellent honey basil cornmeal bread recipe; making that into muffins wouldn’t take any more work.
My original cornbread recipe contains basil, which I find really goes well in cornbread, and I’ve used it again here. I’ve added some jalapeño pepper this time because I’m serving it with white bean stew—I think a little spice is nice with beans.
Thinking again, I thought blueberries would go well, so I made both from the same batter. After adding the basil, I halved the batter into another bowl and made each unique flavor.
Of course, you don’t have to make them two ways—you could choose one or the other—or something else. I couldn’t resist! The jalapeño muffins go great with any savory dish, such as beans, ribs, or fried chicken. The blueberry ones are good for breakfast and maybe even dessert, depending on your imagination.
I don’t have a twelve-cup muffin tin but rather an eight-cup and a jumbo pan. So I used 6 wells of the eight-cup pans for the jalapeño ones, two wells of the eight-cup, and two of the jumbo pans for the blueberry muffins. This worked out great for my experimentations; you’ll see why at the end of this post.
I have a large two-cup glass measuring cup, which I used for the liquid ingredients—they fit perfectly. Let’s face it—a measuring cup is easier to wash than another bowl, right?
Anyway, here’s my recipe:
Blue Cornmeal Honey Basil Muffins—Two Ways
Ingredients
- 1 cup blue cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- A large pinch of salt
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter + more for greasing the pan(s)
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 egg, room temperature
- ¼ cup basil leaves cut into chiffonade
- 1 jalapeño, minced, optional
- ½ cup fresh blueberries, optional
Prepare a 12-well muffin tin (or alternately, a 9” x 9” baking pan) by generously greasing it with butter.
Preheat oven to 350º F.
Melt the stick of butter in a small saucepan over low heat. While the butter is melting, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Pour the buttermilk into a large measuring cup or a medium-sized bowl. If using the GLASS measuring cup and, for whatever reason, it’s not room temperature, stick it in the microwave for about a minute, and it should be closer to the temperature it should be. Once the butter is melted, set it aside to cool slightly.
Whisk the egg, honey, and butter into the buttermilk until combined. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, then add the snipped basil. Stir it in. If making two types of muffins, this is where you split the batter. In one bowl, add the minced jalapeño, and in the other, add the blueberries.
Mix the ingredients until most lumps are gone, then pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes clean from the center of one of the muffins and the cornbread is golden brown. Serve warm or cold.
